Pleasantries
by FemmeDraconis
Summary: "You don't even know me, Harry," said Ginny. But he wishes he did. Not a romance fic, but H/G. (one shot)


_Setting_: Harry's 5th year, Ginny's 4th. I'm ignoring Order of the Phoenix, it won't be needed anyway. There might be a few things in the story which will make you think, 'that never happened!', but just pretend it does.

_Disclaimer_: Harry Potter and friends still do not belong to me. I give that treasure to J.K. Rowling.

_Pleasantries_

There was the flash again.

It wouldn't need to be just a flash if she didn't insist on running away. 

It would be something more…permanent. Maybe a collage of red.

Harry didn't know. He couldn't know. Because there she went again…

~          ~          ~          ~

She was clever; he'd give her that much. 

Oh! He would even go so far as to say she was brilliant. A real strategist; like Ron.

Except not Ron.

Harry ran up to her in the hall. 

"Ginny!" 

The crowd of people around her jostled, making it hard to tell if she had stopped.

"Ginny!"

He caught up to her; pushed his way through the crowd.

"Harry?" she said questioningly. He sighed and matched her stride; she had not stopped walking.

What was he going to say? Small talk was so hard to make…

"How are you today?" he said. That was enough for a start, he thought.

But she made it so difficult.

"Fine. Busy."

For such a little person, she kept a rather brisk pace. He trotted alongside her pondering about the funny vision they must make. A fifth-year – Harry Potter no less – seemingly chasing after little Ginny Weasley. 

Funny.

"I can tell," he said. 

And he meant it, even if he didn't know what was keeping her so busy.

She stopped. "Can you, Harry? Can you really tell that I'm fine? That I'm occupied and happy? Do you know what I'm occupied with?"

The pleasant tone was gone. 

She always spoke to him in such a pleasant tone these days. It had emotion – a vague, sort of happiness.

Ginny was never rude to him. Ever. She was never angry with him. Maybe with everyone else she was, but she made Harry the exception.

It excited him to hear the feeling in her voice, even if she wasn't being _pleasant_ anymore.

He hated that word. 

"No, Ginny. I have no idea what you're occupied with."

The crowd was gone.

"I have no idea because you _make yourself busy whenever I want to just…just talk with you–"_

"Talk with me, Harry?"

"Yes, talk with you, Ginny." He was getting impatient. Something was wrong, and he wanted to fix it.

"Do you want to talk with me, Harry? Or talk _to me?"_

He noted the difference. 

He was speechless.

The fire was gone. Ginny began to walk toward her crowd, away from Harry and all of his talk.

"Meet me by the lake before lunch!" he shouted at her back.

She didn't turn.

"I don't know. I might be busy," she said pleasantly.

~          ~          ~          ~

Harry picked up some grass and threw it.

It was destructive work, uprooting the grass just to throw it around.

Pluck.

But oddly comforting, the snapping of the green blades in his hand.

There was a soft thump next to him.

Close enough to seem amiable, but the distance was too great for two friends.

Friends?

"There won't be any grass left."

Pluck.

"I didn't know you cared."

Pluck. Pluck.

"I do."

Pluck.

"So, why did you come?"

"Because you asked me to," Ginny said.

He avoided her eyes.

She wasn't looking at his, anyway.

"I didn't think you would come."

She shrugged. 

"Sometimes we surprise ourselves."

That wasn't the answer he wanted. He wanted her to come because she wanted to. Because she cared about their non-relationship, their non-friendship that wouldn't even exists if she continued to avoid him.

But she didn't care. He plucked the grass. 

Maybe it would spite her. 

 "Why are you avoiding me, Ginny?" He looked at her.

She looked at him.

"You won't want to know."

He looked harder.

Pluck.

"Try me."

She sighed. "You'll be so disappointed," Ginny said, sounding like she couldn't care in the least if he was.

"Why?"

"Because you thought you did such a good job."

Harry looked away. "What do you mean?" he mumbled.

"You know what I mean, Harry. You thought you were so good at protecting me after the Chamber."

Pluck.

"And I was," he protested.

"And you were." She crossed her legs. "But now you're not."

"Because you're being difficult," Harry accused. "You're so…different."

He made it sound like a bad thing.

Ginny sighed.

"Because I'm so different, and you don't care. Oh, Harry," she said. "You have no idea how much I loved you after you rescued me."

"I don't think it possible to be even more than how much you loved me before it," he admitted without being arrogant.

Ginny chuckled.

"See, but you're wrong! I didn't ever think I could love someone as much as I did you, back then."

Harry listened.

"You were so good to me, even if I wasn't sure that you knew my name. And then in my second year, you made sure that I was never alone. And it wasn't because you didn't trust me; it was because you thought I was lost, and that I needed you. My hero."

Harry watched her.

Pluck.

"It was a glorious year for me, second year. And third year…that was nice too. Even though you had your troubles with the Triwizard Tournament and all, you still made sure that you were there to talk to me, Harry. It was appreciated, at first. 

But when that was all over, Harry, and you talked to me this year. I didn't want your protection. I wanted you to talk _with me."_

"And haven't I?"

Ginny matched his gaze. "No, you haven't. You would say a few words to me. It usually started off with asking 'how I was,' and if I was 'keeping myself busy'."

He winced. So that was where she got that from…

"But you never once talked with me. We never talked about interesting things, like friends should, because we aren't friends, Harry. You trail me, yes, and you try and protect me, but you don't know me. At all. And for someone who has tailed me for years to not know my favorite color, I think…I think that it's really sad. And that's why I'm avoiding you Harry. I don't want you to follow me around and spout off meaningless words and ask me empty questions that I've answered before. And I don't want to be pitied for something I did a long time ago. So I've deemed it best that we don't see each other. At least as much as you'll permit. Because I'd rather not have your 'protection' than be your obligation."

The grass swayed in the wind.

"I didn't know you felt that way," Harry said softly, looking at Ginny.

She looked away. "We never talked about it."

The two sat for a long time in the grass by the lake. Something was changed. 

Harry wasn't sure what, but it felt better, more comforting.

Then it was time to go.

He was sad as they stood up. It was a proper parting, unlike all the ones shared between them before. 

It was the reluctance of having to separate from a friend, even if for a little while.

"Do you want to hang out later in the Common Room?" Harry asked. "I'll save you a seat."

Ginny walked ahead of him and then stopped. Harry jogged up next to her while she bent over.

Pluck.

Ginny took the blade of grass she pulled from the earth and held it for a second before dropping it.

"I thought you cared," Harry said.

Ginny smiled at him. 

"I do."

She began walking, and so did he; their pace matched evenly as they headed up together toward the castle doors.

~          ~          ~          ~          ~          ~

Please review!

~F.E.M.M.E.


End file.
